William Shakespeare wrote, "What a piece of
work is a man." With technology advancing by the day and defeating
us at games, what does it mean to be human?
Computers run much of our daily lives from the
clock that provides a wake-up call to the variety of machines we use throughout
the day. As we settle into sleep for the night, a computer even changes
the feel of our mattress.
A computer can provide information on Mozart but
can it write music that, "entices angels down to earth" as Mozart
did? Programs direct spaceships into the universe but do they dream
of space travel?
Can a computer dwell in the magic of sunrise and
sunset? How about laughing at its own file of jokes? Could it appreciate
a floral scent?
Read about the Turing Test, a battle between the
most advanced artificial-intelligence programs and ordinary people. The
test is designed to determine if a computer can act "more human" than
a person.
Mind Versus Machine, an
article in "The Atlantic":
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/03/mind-vs-machine/8386/
Have fun speculating and writing about what it means to be human.
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